Why Hosted WiFi Makes Good Sense for Small Businesses

Smaller companies often face insurmountable challenges when building an in-house wireless infrastructure. Fortunately, some service providers have designed solutions to overcome common obstacles.

Here are some key reasons why every small business should consider a hosted WiFi solution include:

Affordability – WiFi is a preferred access method in an increasing number of applications. However, not every small company can afford enterprise-grade WiFi. For a monthly subscription fee, small businesses can avoid the capital expense of building a wireless network.

IT Resources – Typically, small businesses have insufficient IT staff to devote to network configuration and day-to-day operations. The existing staff may also lack the necessary expertise to manage a wireless network effectively and keep up with new technologies.

Features – In many instances, small businesses will rely on consumer wireless products because that’s all they can afford. This low-end equipment doesn’t provide the functionality a business requires. Designing an enterprise-grade network to access advanced features is usually cost-prohibitive. However, moving to a hosted WiFi solution provides the best of both worlds – a small business gets enterprise-grade features for a lower monthly cost.

Complexity – Since the service provider will be doing all the heavy lifting – designing, configuring, managing and upgrading the network – small businesses don’t have to worry about the technical aspects of ensuring a high-performance wireless network. In addition, hosted WiFi does away with traditional on-premises, controller-based solutions that are typically too complicated for small businesses to manage. Hosted WiFi virtualizes the controllers in the cloud.

Ease of Migration – Compared to larger enterprises, small businesses can move to a managed WLAN solution with relative ease.

Security – Small businesses use the same secure, high-performance access points as enterprises. A well-qualified service provider will offer a robust network with proven processes that minimize security threats.

Analytics – In the past, comprehensive reporting was an expensive tool available only to large enterprises. With the hosted WiFi solutions of today, every size business has access to advanced analytics and reporting.

BYOD and Mobility – Like all businesses, smaller companies are experiencing a growing reliance on smartphones, tablets and laptops. A more geographically-distributed workforce using myriad devices places significant demands on network resources. Small businesses need enterprise-grade WiFi to support their BYOD and mobility requirements.